People often remind us about avoiding deep-fried foods. But, something about cooking food to a delectable crisp by submerging it in bubbling hot oil is something that even air-fryers cannot quite seem to replicate perfectly. Everything somehow transforms into a beautifully textured, flavorful dish. These are a few fried foods that may eventually cut some time off the end of your life but are so worth it.
Champion’s Steak & Seafood’s Mochiko Chicken
The steak and seafood specialty outfit serves up an iconic local dish, Mochiko Chicken. There is something about the rice flour coating that adds a different degree of crunchiness to the chicken. Add to that the alluring sweet and savory flavors and you will be begging for some rice, if not another serving.
Champion’s Steak & Seafood >> Get a special offer!
Location: 2201 Kalakaua Ave.
Royal Hawaiian Center Building B (Level 2) *Paina Lanai Food Court
Hours: 10am – 9pm daily
Phone: (808) 921-0011
Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar’s Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi
Before you take a nose dive into the wonderful menu of nigiri and creative rolled sushi, start with an order of the Panko-Crusted Ahi Sashimi. The award-winning appetizer features fresh ahi tuna wrapped with arugula and spinach before being panko or bread crumb-crusted and flash fried. The soy wasabi butter sauce adds a rich and creamy lacquer of umami that is truly addicting.
Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar >> Get a special offer!
Location : 2552 Kalakaua Ave.
Waikiki Beach Marriott 3rd Floor
Reservations : (808) 931-6286
Dine-In : 5:30pm – 9:30pm daily
Yi Xin Cafe’s Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings
The Hong Kong-style cafe offers a number of hot appetizers, but among the most popular is the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Wings. This Chinese take on fried chicken coats each crispy wing with a sauce made with egg yolk preserved in salt. The creamy, salted flavors add such a beautiful complexity that will make you wonder why all fried chicken served anywhere does not come with this sauce.
Yi Xin Cafe >> Get a special offer!
Location : 2919 Kapiolani Blvd. #218 (in Market City Shopping Center), B.Y.O.B
Phone : (808) 738-0818
Hours : 10:30am – 9pm (Tue – Sun) *Closed Mon
Nami Kaze’s Beer Batter Auction Fish
Considered by many foodies as one of Honolulu’s hottest restaurants, Nami Kaze offers a brunch/lunch menu with a Beer Batter Auction Fish that is a show-stopper. The local fish is given a crispy exterior that pairs seamlessly with the house-made Remoulade with creamy and bright acidic pops of flavor. Accompanied with some crinkle fries, this local take on a British pub fave will elevate your perspectives.
Nami Kaze
1135 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, HI
Phone: (808) 888-6264
Business hours: Wed-Fri, 10:00am – 1:30pm, 4:30 – 8:30pm; Sat & Sun, 9:00am – 1:30pm, 4:30 – 8:30pm
El Cielo by Chef Masa’s Buñuelos
The popular new tapas bar in Waikiki is known for its pinchos and paellas, but among all the spectacular tapas selections are the buñuelos, or Spanish donuts. While unlike the more traditional renditions of this fried dough which is dusted with cinnamon sugar, these are savory bites that have a hint of black cod and a saffron aioli for dipping. Closer in style to a potato croquette, these airy donuts collapse under the weight of your tongue, releasing beautiful salted notes complemented by the aioli’s creaminess. You will be popping those in your mouth like cheese puffs, to be washed down by glasses of sangria.
El Cielo by Chef Masa
346 Lewers Street 1F, Honolulu, HI
Phone: (808) 772-4533
Business hours: Sun-Sat, 5:00pm – 12:00 midnight
TJ’s Sports Bar & Grill’s Korean Fried Chicken
The sports bar on the West end of Kapiolani Boulevard offers an amazing Korean Fried Chicken. The local take on this Asian beer-friendly food dips fried pieces of chicken thighs in a sweet and savory soy-based sauce scented with garlic, ginger, and chili. Tempered in piquancy, these gems boast a crispy exterior that reveals a tender and moist flesh that may distract you from watching any of the sports games being shown on the large screen TVs there.
TJ’s Sports Bar & Grill
600 Kapiolani Boulevard Suite 100, Honolulu, HI
Phone: (808) 545-2424
Business hours: Mon-Fri, 10:00am – 2:00am; Sat, 2:00pm – 2:00am; Sun, 8:00am – 2:00am
So, save your deep-fried fix for days when you check out these fine establishments. As for how much time eating fried foods may shorten your life expectancy, only the man upstairs knows. But who’s counting anyway, especially when food can get this good?
